


Destiny

by TanteiKID13



Series: Fortune [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Canon-Typical Violence, Fortune Telling, Happy Ending, M/M, Oblivious!Sora, Pining!Riku
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-03 04:36:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21173537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TanteiKID13/pseuds/TanteiKID13
Summary: In which ten may be too young to tell a child his destiny, but destiny isn't one to be thwarted that easily, and Sora is pretty bad at avoiding his anyway.





	1. Rota Fortunae

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be updating this work every day until it's completed. This is the only chapter told from a non-Sora POV. This work has not been beta-read.

Everyone accepted that a child’s tenth birthday was the day to bring them to a fortune teller. Sora’s own mother was no exception.

“Today’s the day. Aren’t you excited?” Kaia asked him even as she fussed with his hair. It was relatively short, yet it seemed to defy gravity, sticking up in a spiky mess that no amount of work could tame. 

He grinned at her, all childish excitement. “Of course! I bet it’ll be something cool!”

She smiled at him, placing a hand on his cheek. “It’s fine if it’s not,” she told him, because she had cried on the day she had been told her own. She hoped her son had a happier path. “Do you want to know mine?” she offered. Maybe he would understand a little more if he knew one that wasn’t in a storybook.

His eye widened. She had told him since he was little that his destiny would be a very private thing, not something to share. It was something that had been stressed when she was young, and she had understood after she had gotten it. She was glad she didn’t have to share it with everyone. “Can you?” he asked, with wonder.

She laughed a little. “Of course I can. It’s private, but my destiny is something that can’t be changed now. You just have to promise not to tell anyone.” 

He nodded vigorously. “I swear!” Her child was so earnest, so sweet. She hoped fate was kind to him.

She looked him in the eyes, a sky blue that reminded her so much of her husband. “I’m trusting you, Sora,” she said seriously. Her boy wouldn’t go spreading rumors about her, but he needed to understand that she wasn’t telling him this lightly. She took a breath and said, “On my tenth birthday, I was told that the man I loved the most would need to leave, and that he would return a changed man.” Her boy looked so very sad for her. His heart was a remarkable thing. Would a reminder make him less sad? “You know that your father didn’t chose to go, right honey?”

“I know,” he said, much more quietly than usual.

She didn’t speak of it often, but she had explained his father had been called to serve the king. She had not told him of how she had known as soon she had fallen in love that the man would leave one day and how that had broken her heart. She never breathed a word of her opinion of the king’s war or how her husband had not come back in years, long enough for his son to not remember him well. She did not say that the letters had stopped coming months ago. She did not say how she feared that destiny was a thing that could be changed. 

“And he’ll come back one day,” she said, with a quiet certainty that, in her heart, she no longer felt.

“I know,” he said, his eyes downcast.

She felt a heaviness in her heart. Her poor, sweet child didn’t need to look like that on his birthday. “I’m sorry, honey, I didn’t mean to make you sad,” she said, as she reached out. He stepped into her arms quickly, folding himself into her. 

“I’m not sad!” he protested, breaking free with indignation. 

She kissed his cheek, adjusted his clothes. “Of course not. Come on, we’ll be late if we don’t go now.”

She took his hand and led him along the familiar streets to the building he had seen before but never stepped into. The fortune teller in Destiny Islands was in her own office in City Hall. Children didn’t come here until their tenth birthday. She hadn’t been here since. The door was open, though whether that was customary or because the fortune teller had an appointment, she didn’t know. The room had changed in the last twenty years, a bookshelf added in the corner, with the chairs having been replaced with ones with more cushion. The woman inside had not changed at all.

She had long white hair and purple eyes that marked her for what she was, with an ageless sort of look about her, the way all fortune tellers were reputed to until it was their time to be replaced. Kaia knew the sorts of deaths fortune tellers had; she couldn’t feel angry at this woman for what she had told her so many years ago when she knew what sort of end would befall her. The fortune teller met her eyes. Kaia couldn’t tell what she saw there, only that the woman quickly looked away.

Kaia never had learned her name. Kaia wasn’t sure the fortune teller knew hers, wasn’t sure if her destiny had been special in it’s weight or if it was an average day for the woman. They hadn’t spoken much. She wondered for the first time about the woman who had told her what was to come, what sort of destiny a woman like that might have. Knowing what she knew of fortune tellers, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know at all. 

Her son was kinder than her, she knew. It was the sort of knowledge she was proud to have.


	2. You'll Never Swing That Sword

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title inspired by a Zelda fanfic "you could never swing that dagger" by bodysharing (salvainterra) and westerngenre.

“Hello Sora,” said the woman behind the desk. She smiled at him, and he took an instant liking to her. This was not an uncommon occurrence as Sora took an instant liking to most people. “You’ll have to step outside for a moment,” she told his mother.

“Of course, I understand,” his mother said, and she released his hand, pat him on the head with a fond smile and stepped out.

He looked around the room, trying to avoid studying the woman in front of him. He had been told enough times when he was younger that it was rude to stare. Kairi had hated it when he was rude.

“You can sit down,” the fortune teller told him, and so he sat, because it seemed like the polite thing to do. “Give me your hands, Sora.”

“Why?” he asked, even as he stuck his hands out. Asking questions probably wasn’t rude here. No one had ever really mentioned what to do once you were inside the room for your fortune. 

She laughed. “You’re a curious one,” she told him, like it was a delightful thing. He definitely liked her. “Most kids are too nervous to ask me anything at all. Hands are important in magic, but the important bit right now isn’t that. They tell you about the life one has lived and, for a fortune teller, what sort of life you will live. Give me a moment.” She gently grabbed his hands, flipping them palm up, examining them with sharp eyes and then flipping them once more. “Look at me, in the eyes. They say eyes are windows to the soul, and they’re not wrong.”

He looked at her, her purple eyes staring into his blue ones.

“Well.” She frowned. There was a long pause, and she looked away. “That’s a heavy destiny,” she said, with a sadness that had overcome her quite quickly. “You’ll need so much help in the coming years.”

He blinked, suddenly anxious. “What does that mean?”

“Sora,” she said, gently. “You will be instrumental in bringing about the next regime and helping the rightful prince take the throne. You will be a warrior of light, but you’ll become a monster to protect the prince.” She paused for a moment, and her expression became something fond, as if she had known him for much longer than a few minutes. “You do so well, Sora. You're a good person, just learn to protect yourself.”

Sora was stunned. That sounded complicated. Actually, it sounded really dangerous; it really didn’t sound like something he wanted get involved in. 

“Can… Do I want to do this? In the future, I mean.”

She smiled. “It’s your destiny. You _will_ do this.”

“But I don’t want to,” he cried out. The entire affair seemed a lot more cool when he didn’t have a destiny. Now, all he could think about was his mother’s quiet acceptance and how tired her destiny seemed to have made her. Now, all he could think was that one day he would decide to help some prince gain a throne, and he would chose to be a _monster_. Did he do dark magic? It was the way monsters were made, so he must have. She had said he was a good person still, but it was the only thing he could think of. His destiny had worried the fortune teller and made her tell him to learn to defend himself. 

Sora didn’t know what he had wanted his destiny to be. Maybe a sailor? He had a vague memory of Riku talking about going on a boat with his dad, and that had sounded great. Sora hadn’t wanted his destiny to be so _big_. He had wanted to leave his island and find Riku and Kairi again. Beyond that, he hadn’t known, because he would be with his friends again, and it didn’t matter what they did, as long as they were together.

This sort of destiny was going to make Kairi cry again, like she did on the day she had left. Riku wouldn’t have been happy with how troublesome it was.

He missed his friends deeply at that moment, sitting in front of a woman who knew more of his life than he did and feeling utterly lonely. 

Everyone accepted that a child’s tenth birthday was the day to bring them to a fortune teller. Sora’s own mother was no exception.

He sort of wished she had been.

He remembered being dressed in his finest clothes, as if it would have an effect on the outcome, and how tired she had seemed as she told him the destiny that had kept her chained to that house on those islands. He remembered being led by her to the room in which he had been told, at age ten, that he was going to help a prince become a king.

The most important thing that he remembers was walking home, with a growing dread that his destiny just might kill him.

He had rarely beaten Riku with their stick swords when he had been younger, and he hadn’t exactly improved since Riku had gone. Riku had gone much like he had arrived: suddenly. Just like Kairi. Years together, and they were gone without warning.

It seemed that maybe it wasn’t just his mother’s life that was marked by departures. 

He hadn’t told his mother his destiny, but she seemed to have gotten it in her head that it had something to do with fighting when he asked for lessons with a sword the instant they got home, and his days for the next few years were filled with all the lessons he could ask for, for both magic skills and sword fighting. His teachers were surprised with the speed he picked up their lessons, but he supposed that not dying in whatever revolution he was to get mixed up in when he was older was more incentive than he had ever received in school.

Sometimes, he would think that the prince better be an amazing person for all this effort. 

He was only fourteen when a traveller comes to town, talking about master magicians and rooms that turned upside down and cities underwater, and Sora thought that everything sounded so much more exciting than his destiny could be, and then he realized there’s no one to stop him. He could see it all himself, and no one would stop him and ask him what his destiny was. Maybe, with his skills, he could find a place his destiny couldn’t find him. A place where he wouldn't become the sort of person to use dark magic. Maybe he could even find Riku and Kairi, convince them to come with him.

So, he told his mother that he loved her, but he had to go.

He didn’t realize how much his choice of words had to do with her letting him go. Not at the time.

“I love you,” she told him as he shouldered his pack.

“I love you too. I’ll come back for you, I promise!”

She seemed so sad, even as she told him, “I know you will.”


	3. Running Away Doesn't Prove Them Wrong

Six years later, and he wonders if his mother still knows that he’ll come back for her. He wonders if his father ever did. He hadn’t the last time Sora had written.

All he really knows is that his destiny is easy to avoid when he keeps moving on. No one puts their trust in a wandering swordsman. No one asks him to fight for a prince he doesn't know. He fights for the friends he makes, and ignores the fact that he makes friends awfully fast. He's sure he would know if he had made friends with royalty.

He’s finally heading back to the islands. There’s been rumors that the current king is in ill health, and he wants to see his mother one more time before he disappears for some time. It’s been ten years since he learned of his destiny, and, if anything, he wants to face it even less. 

He's happy with his life. Maybe he never quite fits in anywhere for long, but he's happy with the sort of person he is. He doesn't want to be a monster.

It’s the flash of red that makes him stop. It’s the end of winter, and he’s traveling through a forest. There’s not much red to go around. It’s the glint of steel that has him heading over. He’s never been much good at avoiding a fight. It sometimes seemed like enemies came up from the ground fully formed and expecting him to fight them. 

The people are on the path, something he tended to avoid this close to a town. People were surprisingly gossipy about royalty whenever he was involved, and he had little interest in knowing what their monarch was doing. It had been a particularly talkative man who had told him all about the king’s ill health and how it was rumored to be serious, and didn’t Sora want to know about what had happened to the prince? 

Sora had not. He made it abundantly clear by conjuring a ball of snow and tossing it at the man when he ignored Sora and continued to talk about the royal family. That little stunt had gotten both of them thrown from that establishment, and Sora had taken it as a sign it was time to move on from that town. The man had taken it as a sign to run away from Sora, which felt overdramatic; Sora hadn’t even hurt the man. 

Honestly, the man had just had the unfortunate luck as to stumble upon the one topic which Sora wanted to avoid. Any sign that the prince really was the rightful ruler and needed help would mean that Sora would feel like he had to intervene. Better to avoid it all entirely and keep looking for Riku and Kairi. The man’s news had been helpful, in the end. Sora had some time before anything should happen.

Thankfully, the path was clear of others beyond the fight that seemed to be brewing. The girl was the only one holding a sword, although it seemed like that would change soon. One of the men facing off against her was a magic user, as the wind beginning to whip through the area carried a hint of power. The other two men had firm grips on their sword hilts. Certainly bad odds for the girl.

“Are you robbing her?” he asked as he stepped into the clearing.

They all turned to face him while keeping an eye on their opponents. The girl was the only one who seemed naggingly familiar, but he had met a lot of girls with red hair.

“She’s the one who came looking for trouble,” said one of the men. He seemed to be the most dangerous of the lot, his stance deceptively calm even as he stirred the air around him. Sustaining magic like he was tended to be tricky, especially at the low levels the man was holding. Most magicians tended to accidentally put too little power into it after a while, causing the spell to fizzle out; Sora had the opposite problem, where inattention to an active spell caused it to become overpowered. Neither was ideal. 

However, that also meant he didn’t consider Sora someone worthy of his full attention. The wind was obviously just an intimidation tactic, as a man who could control his magic like that knew far more dangerous magic. If he had thought Sora or the girl were threats, he would have let the wind die.

This was a good sign. Maybe he could get them all out of this without anyone getting injured.

“I wasn't looking for anything but an apology,” the girl said firmly, glaring at the men. 

“If you're eavesdropping, you don't always like everything you hear,” said one of the swordsman. “I don't much care for the cowardly runt.” The girl took a threatening step forward, and the man raised an eyebrow. “We don't have to come to blows over this.”

“No one may insult the prince in my presence,” she told them firmly, and Sora became vaguely alarmed. What did the prince have to do with anything? “Apologize or let your blade speak for you.”

“I'm not sorry,” he said.

“Then, we only have one option.”

“What?” Sora asked, louder than he intended. It caught everyone's attention. “You want to get hurt for a guy that isn't even here?”

She looked wrong footed. “Do you not know who I am?”

He looked at her, trying to remember why she looked familiar. “Someone in the palace?” he guessed.

The men were looking at him like he was stupid. The girl just seemed surprised. “She’s one of the dead nobleman’s daughters,” the magician said shortly. “Obviously hasn't mastered subtlety yet.”  
She ignored the jab. “There's no reason for you to get involved. You should leave before this turns nasty,” she told Sora.

“Well then, you should too. There's no reason to fight over this.”

“I can't stand here while they drag his name through the mud!” she exclaimed, her voice breaking on the last word. “The prince doesn't deserve this after everything else!”

One of the men decided he had had enough of waiting and drew his sword, rushing at the girl as she was distracted by telling Sora to flee. “Wind,” he said, pushing himself into the man’s path with a burst of air, disturbing the currents already surrounding the clearing. “Defend,” he said, drawing up a barrier right before the man hit him instead of his original target. “We’re still talking,” he said, even as he materialized his own sword to face the man. 

“You wouldn’t happen to be Sora, would you?” the magician asked, even as his question caused his companions to look back at him in confusion.

“And if I am?” Sora asked. 

“We’ll leave the lady with you,” he said genially.

“Like hell,” one of his companions said, ignoring the magician’s glare. “I’m not leaving a palace brat out here picking fights without teaching her a lesson based on _rumors_.”

“If you fight him, you’re on your own,” the magician told him bluntly. “Rumors are more than enough for me to go on.”

The swordsman seem to lose much of his bravado as his other companion refused to meet his gaze. He glared at them both before shifting his glare to Sora and the girl. “Fine,” he spat. “It’s not that big a deal anyway.” His boots raised clouds of dust as he stomped away.

“You _are_ Sora, right?” the magician asked as his other companion followed the one stomping down the path.

“I am,” Sora said cautiously.

The man smiled. “I always wanted to know, when did you start training? You’re so young!”

“When I was ten.”

“Destined to be a great warrior, then?” the man asked. He was probably from far away, if the question didn’t strike him as unspeakably rude. Some of the eastern territories delighted in sharing their destinies with anyone who could hear. Sora had never traveled that far east specifically because of that. 

“Something like that. Make sure your companions know not to cause trouble on the road like that. Skirmishes block the path for others.”

“Of course. It was great meeting you!” he said and then, with a wave, began trailing after his companions.

Sora turned his attention back to the girl. She was still tense, which he supposed was fair when left alone with a stranger in a forest. “Are you okay?” he asked. 

She nodded. 

“I get that this prince guy is important to you, but maybe you shouldn’t get into fights over him,” Sora told her as he turned away, ready to resume his journey home.

“Wait!” she called out. “Sora. I need your help.”

He turned back to her determined expression. “My help?”

“I need your help to find the prince. I was looking for you. I thought he might have found you first or maybe he went to the islands, but he was looking for you too last time I saw him,” she explained. 

“Why me?” he asked. It seemed bizarrely specific to be searching for Sora when all he wanted to do was avoid the whole thing.

She looked dismayed. “Sora, don’t you remember? We promised each other we’d all meet again.”

He had only made that particular promise once, when he was too young to really know better. “Kairi?” he asked, and she finally relaxed, smiling at him. “Wait, what happened to Riku?”

She cocked her head. “I _told_ you, he went looking for you.”

Which meant- “Riku is the prince?!”

“Sora, stop playing around,” she said, with exasperation. “Everyone knows that.”

Everyone but him, because he hadn’t wanted to know anything about the rightful prince. Sora knew himself well enough to know that if he thought the prince deserved it, then Sora could do anything to help him. He was going to perform dark magic for Riku? Riku was going to become king?

Sora sat abruptly, a plume of dust rising from the road as he did. He had been running from _Riku_. Riku didn’t run from anything. He didn’t feel like the sort of person who was going to perform dark magic soon. He couldn’t, not after his run in with a fairy godmother in a neighboring kingdom. He wasn’t clever enough to find a work around for that sort of magic.

“The revolution is coming, isn’t it?” 

She seemed stunned. “You know about his aunt’s revolt?”

“No. I just know my own destiny,” he said numbly. It had come after him with a vengeance. How in the world was he supposed to fulfill it _now_? His destiny was to protect Riku. He couldn’t let Riku suffer because he couldn’t perform dark magic.

His destiny had seemed a lot different when it was an unknown prince. Riku had acted plenty tough when they were young, but he had been the first to rush to Sora’s defense. He had grumpily put up with Sora crying when he skinned his knees, gave him piggy back rides, ran races against him. Riku had made Kairi and Sora share a paopu fruit with him because Sora had told him his island’s legend that their destiny would always be intertwined if they did. The Riku Sora knew would never allow anyone to be a monster. He’d fight them first.

She crouched next to him, concerned. “Sora,” she started, but she didn’t seem sure of what else to say.

“He wouldn’t ask for that,” he reassured himself quietly. He looked up at her. “Why do you need me?”

“We heard the stories,” she said gently. “You’re the best warrior to come from your islands in a very long time, and you’re our friend. Who else would we find to fight against his aunt and her creatures? Besides, Riku wanted to find you way before this. I think it really just gave him an excuse.”

“Huh,” was all he could really think to say. “So. I guess we should find Riku?”

She smiled at him. “You’re just the same. Never change, Sora.”

He blinked up at her. For the past ten years, he had been trying to avoid changing into someone beyond his own recognition and thinking eventually he might not be able to avoid it. With Kairi and Riku on his side though, he thought he stood a chance, destiny be damned. 

“He’s probably at the islands already,” she said.

“Well, I was planning on going home anyway.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kairi is in fact the daughter of a nobleman. Specifically, the spymaster of the court, the position she's being trained for.


	4. There's Nothing Stronger Than Us

She filled him in on the way, when it became clear that he hadn’t been joking when he hadn’t known Riku was the prince. She told him of Riku’s father on his deathbed, growing more ill by the day. She told him of Riku’s aunt Maleficent and how all those who had disagreed with her had suddenly disappeared and how monsters of Maleficent’s own creation had taken their place, listening to only her. 

She told him how the king had been locked away, how Riku had kept vigil at his bedside until his death, locked in with him. She confessed how scared she had been, how she had seen the monsters torture a nobleman when he had dared to disagree with the treatment of his monarch. Sora had been sent after monsters before, whether men or magic. He knew the type. He didn’t like anything he was hearing regardless.

“My father had already disappeared weeks before, gone without a trace. I don’t know what happened to him; I didn’t even know where to begin looking for clues. It was all minor noblemen who had disappeared, but she was working her way up. I just knew that I had to get Riku out. People will follow him if we can oust her. He’s much more well-liked, and the monsters and the disappearances under Maleficent are only making people restless.

“Getting him out was the only thing on my mind for weeks, and I was looking for an opportunity. When the king died, she began arranging her coronation ceremony, even though Riku was next in line for the throne. She was going to get rid of him soon, somehow. There were so many people coming in and out of the castle that she had to be somewhat distracted, so I saw my chance. I got Riku out of the room he was locked in, and we took some of the secret passages out of the castle. I guess she knew about them too though, because there were monsters at the exit. We couldn’t slip past them, so we ran as fast as we could and hoped that we could lose them.

“They were faster than us though. Riku said we had to fight them if we wanted to get away. We had our weapons, but they’re so strong! They overwhelmed us. We got away, but they broke my leg before they fell back.” That made Sora wince. “We don’t know why they left. Riku wanted to find you, so I made him go on ahead after we got to a healer. We don’t have a lot of time before his aunt catches up with us.” 

“How many were there?”

“Four.”

Four monsters. If it had been five, would his friends have even made it to a healer? 

“Do either of you know magic?” he asked. “Or their weaknesses?”

“Riku knows a little magic, but he can only really use dark based attacks, and those weren’t very effective. I’ve seen him battle full grown men to a standstill since he was a child, but those beasts are a different sort of enemy. They don’t stop until they decide to.”

Magic might be more effective then. Good to know he wasn’t out of options yet. 

On the other hand, Riku could use dark magic? That was interesting to know. Sora could never picture the Riku he had known forcing Sora to be monstrous, but...

“Riku… He hasn’t changed that much, right?” Sora asked, and Kairi misinterpreted his anxiety.

“Don’t be silly. He’ll be glad to see you! We’ve been talking about catching up with you for years, but you’re hard to track down these days, and we haven’t really had the time it would take to find you.”

He didn’t say it’d been on purpose. 

Time had dulled the memory of what an arrogant ass Riku could be. Sora wondered how he didn’t make the connection to prince before. 

Riku was sweet to his mother, but it was like the second they get outside he was an entirely different person. They were walking around the island, and Sora was baffled. Where did the smirking come from? _Where did the short jokes come from?_ He loved both Riku and Kairi, but Kairi was definitely winning right now. He told them so. Kairi laughed like it was the best thing she’d heard all year. Riku went red and stopped talking for a bit. Sora counted it as a win. 

“So, did you guys have a plan?” Sora asked, when they stopped at the docks as the sun began to set. It would be really helpful if they had planned beyond finding him, because Sora wasn’t very good at plans. 

“Avoid my aunt, find a way to beat her monsters, if possible, and regain my throne,” Riku said.

… He had forgotten that Riku was the one who had originally thought about sailing away on a raft and decided that two coconuts would be enough for the three of them.

Kairi rolled her eyes as Sora turned to her. Still, she agreed, “There’s not really much else we can do. Maleficent has made most of the nobles disappear, so there’s not much support in that corner, and we can’t risk the guards intervening if there’s no way to win against her creatures. It’s going to come down to some sort of direct confrontation, with the deck stacked as heavily in our favor as possible. No offense, Sora, but we would have preferred to not get you involved at all. We’re just running low on options.”

Sora shrugged. He wasn’t overly offended. He had, after all, been avoiding this exact situation for a decade. “Alright. Well then, we should probably ask Merlin.”

They both looked at him in surprise. “Merlin?” Kairi asked. “The legendary sorcerer who can’t be found? The one who’s presumed dead?”

Sora nodded. That was Merlin. 

Riku looked deeply unimpressed. “And how are we going to do that?”

“We’re going to his house. I know where he lives.” Sora couldn’t help the wide grin that grew at their astonished looks.

“Oh my god, the rumors are true,” Kairi said, and she suddenly looked younger. She grinned, and the sun lighting up her eyes made her look beautiful. “Sora, you’re amazing. We might actually be able to do this.”

Riku looked between them both, a disgruntled expression crossing his face. He slung an arm around Sora’s neck, messing up his hair with his other hand. “You’re still a brat,” he said as Sora tried to squirm out of his arms.

“When did you get so muscular?” Sora whined. He wasn’t much of a grappler. It was what happened when you had a magical sword bound to respond to your call. “Aren’t you a prince? What happened to being dignified and all that stuff?”

“Doesn’t count when your friend is being a brat,” Riku said simply, but he released the tight grip he had, even if the arm remained over Sora’s shoulders.

He was warm and comfortable and between his two best friends. He suddenly felt a lot more optimistic about his destiny.


	5. Origin of Monsters

They spent the night at Sora’s, with his mother fussing over them all and set off in the morning. Merlin technically didn’t live anywhere so much as he lived in hidden spots _everywhere_. A neat trick, Sora had said years ago, after accidentally busting through the enchantments. Merlin had been intrigued before being irritated. Sora had apparently brute forced his way past an obstacle most had tried to think their way around, and the most aggravating part, to Merlin, was that it had worked.

The man had only agreed to teach him because, as he put it, “That sort of magical power can’t be wasted on some idiot who doesn’t know how to use it.” Sora may or may not have implied that Merlin’s barrier couldn’t have been all that impressive before the man had agreed to that, but that was neither here nor there.

The point was, Sora led them to the cave on the islands, reached out and twisted the world to his liking and suddenly the path before them opened up into another cavern.

“Merlin!” Sora called out as he ran across the rocks leading across the lake. Riku and Kairi followed at a more sedate pace, seemingly interested in their surroundings, even if it was just a cavern. “We have a problem!”

As usual, Merlin did not answer. He thought yelling back was gauche. 

Merlin was inside, seated at his table and reading a book. He would not have appeared to have heard Sora’s calls at all, if not for the way he immediately asked, “What sort of problem?” when Sora stepped in the house.

“The sort of problem that impacts the entire kingdom,” Sora said, because that was the sort of drama that Merlin liked.

The book closed.

“Also, I brought some friends,” Sora added, as Riku and Kairi caught up with him and peered in through the doorway, as if unsure of their welcome. He waved them inside, moving around the table so they could all see each other. “Kairi and Prince Riku,” he said, gesturing at each in turn, although he doubted there would be much confusion regardless. He had told Merlin enough about both of them that the man probably had had a good idea who they were the instant Sora had mentioned friends. 

“He’s a prince?” Merlin asked in surprise. “Why didn’t you ever mention that?”

Merlin had never been interested in his destiny, and Sora had never been interested in sharing it, so the fact that Sora avoided information about royalty had never really come up. Instead of explaining this, Sora shrugged. “I didn’t know.”

Merlin’s expression didn’t change much beyond a slight drooping of his eyelids, but it clearly conveyed to Sora that his mentor’s opinion of his intelligence had just reached an all-time low. 

“The point is,” Sora said, with a dismissive wave of his hand. “His aunt is making shadow monsters that aren’t able to be defeated by normal means. I haven’t faced one myself, but we’re hoping you might know something that would give a person an edge in a fight.”

Merlin frowned at them. “That sounds like Maleficent’s work.”

It was only because he was looking at his friends that he caught Riku startle. Kairi’s narrowed eyes were much more obvious. Sora was utterly unsurprised, more used to his mentor knowing things he had no business knowing when he never ventured out of his cavern.

“You know her?” Riku asked. He was leaning against the doorframe, just barely qualifying as inside the house. He looked relaxed, in the way a lounging predator looked relaxed. There was a tension that had been absent just the day before at the dock. 

“I know _of_ her,” Merlin said, the frown deepening. “Her magic is powerful. What did you do to make an enemy of her?”

“I was born,” Riku said dryly, crossing his arms in front of him. It was clear to Sora that he was refraining from rolling his eyes. 

“Well, if it’s her you’re fighting, you have a saving grace. She would never kill someone,” Merlin said.

“Then, my father is still alive?” Kairi asked, hopefully.

Merlin winced. “I believe she called murder ‘a waste of resources’. All sorts of terrible creatures came about from her experiments years ago. They used to follow her, attacking at her command. We were able to turn back some, but… they came back twisted.” Kairi’s face had fallen with every word of his explanation. 

“What do you mean twisted?” Sora asked hesitantly.

“She amplified the darkness in their hearts, turned them into monsters that responded to her beck and call. We tried to undo the effects, but their hearts remained corrupted. We lacked the light to restore them,” he leveled a significant, completely unsubtle look at Sora, “and they were lost to darkness again soon after. If she’s creating monsters again, it’s likely a continuation of the same.”

Sora ignored Riku’s and Kairi’s gazes in order to look at his mentor. His mentor who had apparently known who Sora was meant to be all along. Sora who, as a warrior of light, was born to fight the darkness and who Merlin had had defeat creatures of darkness before. The man had been quite impressed the first time he had done it, and now Sora had a sinking suspicion he hadn’t been meant to succeed. That would certainly explain why the man had hammered in healing spells so thoroughly before sending him out the first time. 

He gave a put upon sigh. He wasn’t even particularly surprised. “I get it. No way for the guards to face her without getting corrupted themselves.” He had already known it was going to be him who would put the rightful prince on the throne. Being able to get some help would have been nice though. “So, how do we… untwist them?”


	6. Sizing Them Up

“What is that?” Sora asked, even though he was pretty certain of the answer.

Riku rolled his eyes at him, because Riku only ever seemed to behave when in front of other people. “That’s what her creatures look like.”

It looked like other creatures of darkness that Sora had seen; it walked on four limbs, a solid black being with yellow eyes that seemed to be made primarily of smoke. Its form flickered and shifted as it moved with a gliding walk, heedless of the ground below it. All in all, it was the usual, vaguely creepy creature of darkness Sora regularly encountered. Regardless, something about this one seemed painfully wrong to Sora’s senses.

“And you thought your best bet was to turn around and fight it?” Sora asked incredulously. 

Riku took a very controlled breath. “At the time, yes.”

“Riku,” Sora said seriously. “You’re so dumb.”

“You’re the one that volunteered to take one on. At least I was being chased when I thought it was a good idea,” Riku said defensively, turning toward Sora slightly to glare at him. 

Sora sighed. He had certainly done that.

Merlin had explained that the untwisting should come just as naturally as the regular method of dealing with creatures of darkness. Riku and Kairi hadn’t wanted to venture back to the castle without testing out that theory, so Sora had volunteered to find one and try to untwist it. Merlin had wanted someone to further explain the situation to him, so, after an intense staring contest, Riku had volunteered to go with Sora and Kairi had stayed behind.

Sora had been sort of excited to get to talk with Riku by themselves after so long, but Riku had been tense the entire trip. Sora had let them out of the cavern closer to the capital, in a knot of trees that were so dense that one couldn’t see the sky. After that, it was a matter of keeping relatively close to the castle while keeping far closer to the forest, just in case Maleficent had a way of keeping track of her monsters.  
Now, they had found one, and Sora’s instincts weren’t being particularly insightful. All he could think to do was fight it as he normally would. That didn’t feel right when he thought about it though. He usually fought summons, beasts of darkness given power through the darkness of people’s hearts, but that usually left a person behind somewhere else. Merlin had implied that the person here was the same as the monster before him, and Sora really didn’t want to kill anyone because his instincts were slow on the uptake. 

“Are you going to do anything?” Riku asked after they had crouched there watching the beast for a few minutes.

“I’m thinking!” Sora shot back. 

“We’ll be here forever in that case. Trust your instincts,” Riku told him, and then stood up, dragging Sora by the hand before pushing him at the now interested beast.

“Riku, what the hell?!” Sora exclaimed, not removing his eyes from his opponent as he summoned his sword. 

“You weren’t getting anywhere on your own. You needed a push,” Riku drawled. 

Sora had just enough time to think, ‘_Was that a deliberate pun?_’ before the creature leapt at him and he lifted a hand, creating a barrier of magic to stop the downward slash of the creature’s claws. He then lunged at the beast, a neat thrust of his sword piercing the creature’s stomach and emitting a flash of light that caused him to stumble back with a cry, covering his eyes.

“What…?” came a dazed voice in front of him. He lowered his hand. A young man with blond spiky hair sat on the ground, clothed in leather armor. It was well-made and well taken care of, from what he could see, although the man lacked any weaponry. There was a pack fallen at his side. He was looking over his surroundings but not focusing on anything as his blue eyes swept over the scene before him. Overall, he gave the impression of a young man just started on an adventure only to immediately trip and give himself a concussion. 

“Roxas?” Riku asked, in disbelief.

The man seemed to come back to himself somewhat at his name, gaze focusing on Riku, then Sora and his sword, before sliding back to Riku. “Prince Riku?” he asked slowly.

“But you went missing before I even met Sora,” Riku said in disbelief, which threw Sora for a loop. The guy had been missing for over fifteen years? He was familiar enough with Riku that Riku knew his name even a decade later, and no one was keeping tabs on him?

“I… What happened? Axel and Xion were with me, but I can’t--_What_ happened?” Roxas asked, starting as calmly as could be expected and quickly escalating into panic. Sora felt that was reasonable. He wouldn’t have liked to disappear for fifteen years only to come to with a stranger standing over him. 

There was something that settled in Riku, and it was the first moment where he really looked like a _prince_ to Sora. He straightened his spine and knelt to get level with Roxas before speaking in a grave tone which seemed to calm Roxas somewhat. “I’m sorry, but we don’t know exactly. We’re trying to find out. What do you remember?”

“I-I was with Axel and Xion. There had been a message requesting our presence, and we were on our way to the courtyard. We thought we were going on a mission, but something was wrong. I--Xion thought there was something off, but she didn’t say what before we realized Axel had vanished. He was right behind us, I swear, he had been complaining about how a squire had forgotten his name, and I didn’t notice when he stopped until Xion pointed it out, and he was gone. We heard a scream from a corridor we had passed by, and we rushed back, but I don’t remember ever getting there. Then, I was here, and you’re _older_, and how much time has passed?”

“Were you scared?” Sora asked thoughtfully, and therefore missed the incredulous looks Roxas and Riku shot him.

“Of course I was scared,” Roxas replied bluntly. “Who are you?

“That’s probably how she got you then. I’m Sora.” Sora dispelled his sword. Roxas didn’t seem like he wanted to fight them anymore, which hopefully meant he wasn’t corrupted. Besides, he’d feel bad fighting the guy now. “Merlin will want to see you though.”

“Merlin?” Roxas asked, disbelief evident. “As in the Merlin who disappeared from this plane of existence?”

“That’s the one,” Sora said cheerfully, taking a step back from the two as Riku stood. “Come on, we have things to do. Maybe we can find Axel and Xion while we do them too!”

“Is he always like this?” Roxas asked, rising to his feet. Riku nodded mutely. “Great,” he said flatly.

“Honestly, he’s your best bet at finding your friends,” Riku responded. “He’s my best bet at reclaiming the throne.”

They both watched as Sora tripped over a branch, windmilling his arms before catching himself.

“Great,” Roxas said again.

“No side effects I can see,” Merlin pronounced as soon as Roxas entered his home before turning back to Kairi. “But you never saw the King dead?” 

“Not personally, but I was busy trying to get Riku out of the castle,” she responded, somewhat impatiently.

“The details are important,” Merlin and Sora said at the same time, seriously and cheekily respectively. Merlin sighed. 

“What?” Sora asked, impishly. “It’s great seeing someone else having to deal with your questions.” Kairi glowered at him. To her, he said, “Now imagine this going on for years.”

“I saw him die,” Riku said, turning his face away with a heavy expression.

“But who declared him dead?” Merlin asked.

“... Pete said he was dead,” Riku said slowly, his eyes widening. He snapped his head to look directly at Merlin. “But Pete is one of Maleficent’s advisors now.”

Merlin smirked at Kairi. “The details are important. If the king is truly dead, I’ll be surprised.”

“If he is alive,” Kairi shot back, “and that’s a big _if_, what’s he been doing?”

“Maleficent saw an opportunity and took it. An ailing king dying isn’t suspicious, but she wouldn’t have left him be after that. I think you know what happened to him,” Merlin said calmly.

Their eyes turned to Roxas. Kairi’s brow furrowed as she looked at him. “Do I know you?” she asked.

“Roxas,” he said and her expression cleared. “The prince has informed me I’ve been gone quite a while.”

“About fifteen years,” Sora chimed in, which earned him another one of the disbelieving stares from Roxas that the other man had been giving him since they met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Off-screen, Merlin is muttering about how suddenly crowded his hidden cave is getting and how if he had known how many people would be visiting him anyway, he would have set up somewhere more comfortable.


	7. Swinging The Sword

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does it count as a double update if the one before was just late? I'mma count it.
> 
> This chapter and the next had the most changes from the initial draft. If there are any inconsistencies, that's probably why. 
> 
> Trigger warning: blood mention, but nothing graphic.

Roxas, it was agreed, was to be left with Merlin. Beyond the wards on the cave making it so that Maleficent couldn’t find him, even if she thought to look, Merlin was certain he could use Roxas as an anchor in a spell to find his friends. Roxas suddenly became much less grumpy on hearing that news. 

“If it all goes according to plan, they’ll even be human again when you find them!” Sora put in. Roxas didn’t seem to appreciate the additional commentary.

Merlin looked deeply uncomfortable. “Sora, you must know, these sorts of enchantments-”

“I know,” Sora said, cutting him off. These sorts of enchantments usually only came undone with the death of the caster. “But I have a plan.”

Merlin looked at him steadily, a hint of worry in his features. “I hope you do, my fool apprentice.” He then huffed and returned to the book he was poring over looking for the precise variation of scrying spell that would help Roxas.

He was such a softie.

“It’s time then?” Riku asked.

“No time like the present! Besides, we’re in the best place we could be for this!” Because every hidden place in the world meant every hidden place, and Sora would bet that an old castle was full of those. “Just tell me where we want to meet her.”

Riku and Kairi shared a look and a few shrugs, with some odd hand motions thrown in. They really hadn’t had much of a plan beyond “Defeat Maleficent”, had they?

Lucky for them that Sora had gotten so good at defeating things.

“Her tower. She’d be a fool if she didn’t have a warning system in place there, and no one was ever able to find her experiments,” Kairi said. 

Sora had never been as close to the castle as he had been earlier today, but knowing the castle wasn’t necessary for this. Merlin always told him magic was usually a very precise art, but Sora had never really got that. He wanted to be in the tower, so he walked forward with the confidence that the tower had to have a hidden place somewhere in it and ended up in an empty room. Merlin hated it when he did things like that. 

The room itself was relatively innocuous. It had two wooden doors on opposite ends and was rather large to be so empty of anything else. He didn’t like the feel of this room. The air was heavy with magic, but the floors had been scrubbed clean of any trace of the types of rituals that would leave that sort of trace. The type that must have been performed many times to leave that much magic behind.

He was expecting it to feel less like a battlefield cleared for a duel than it did. 

His companions didn't seem to share his misgivings. Riku had headed for the door, Kairi towards the other, but neither got far before the shadows began to shift.

“So, you’ve come for your throne, dear nephew.” The shadows coalesced into a woman Sora had never seen but knew had to be Maleficent. She was paler than was natural, with blood red lips and cruel eyes. “But how do you intend to take it from me?”

Riku didn’t turn to face her. “It’s my destiny to rule. Thus, it’s yours to fail.” He turned then, and there was something in him that Sora recognized. His eyes flashed and his teeth were almost bared, and it was in that moment that Sora understood that Riku wasn’t doing this out of duty. Riku was doing it because he needed to, because he wouldn’t be able to live with himself otherwise. It was the same instinct that had him blaming himself for Sora’s skinned knees as children. “I’m just acting as the hand of fate.” Riku was still such a dramatic bastard about it though. 

“How darling,” Maleficent drawled. “I’ve never been one to succumb to fate.”

“Single combat,” Sora said, sure he was preventing a dramatic speech. Maleficent and Riku were both the type. He could sort of see how they were related. 

Maleficent drew back, as if only now realizing there were other people in the room.

“A single fight to determine the fate of the kingdom,” Sora continued, because he could be a dramatic bastard too, _Riku_. 

“Your best warrior,” she demanded, and there was a smirk on her face as she eyed the three of them. She was certain of her victory. Well, Sora would change that. He stepped forward, in front of Kairi and Riku.

“That would be me,” he said, a cocky grin on his face. He had a pretty good idea of how this was going to go. Maleficent looked unimpressed. Her eyes flickered to Riku behind him. Was she expecting Riku to take up the challenge or was Riku trying to do something dumb? Sora knew his part in all of this, which meant that Riku was supposed to stay back. 

“Sora, be careful. Maleficent isn’t the sort to play fair,” Kairi said, but she sounded more cautious than anything. 

Sora grinned, even if they couldn’t see it. Maleficent could, and she could wonder why he was so confident. “I’ll be fine. They tell stories about me, you know.” Besides, this was to protect Riku.

“You’re a child,” she scoffed. “Are you truly the best he has? No one would rally for their prince?”

“Better than you!” he asserted, summoning his sword. It might be the last time he got to fight with it. He twirled his sword in a move that was more style than substance, using one hand to rotate it behind and in front of him. It had taken him a bit to master the rotations and he had dropped his sword multiple times; there was zero practical use for it except for instances like these where being showy was more about the confidence it displayed than the skill. “Show me why they fear you, Maleficent.”

With that, he lunged. She shifted, like she was made of smoke herself, but only enough to dodge. He knew a few spells that might be useful for stopping that, but he needed his magic for another task. 

Another lunge, another dodge. That was going to get annoying quick. He could best her in a sword fight, and Merlin wouldn’t have let him come without backup if he hadn’t been somewhat sure Sora could best her in a magical duel. 

He just needed to shake her. Magic required focus.

A feint and a slash meant she had to parry, and he smirked. She was strong for a noble, but not stronger than him. He slid closer and released his blade. His focus was all on the fight, which made it easy for him to control a blade so tightly bonded to him, bound for just this sort of purpose. He grabbed one of his daggers, forcing Maleficent into a much quicker pace now that she was being attacked on two fronts. She dodged his sword, probably assuming he was less dangerous with his dagger, and he showed her her mistake by scoring her twice in rapid succession, cutting through her flowing robe and drawing back with blood on his blade. 

It was a start. With enough time, he could work with that. He didn't quite have that much time though unless he was trying to exhaust himself both physically and magically.

He may not have the weight of his sword, but he was faster with his dagger. He couldn't use it as an amplifier for his magic, but that didn't matter as much in this fight. She wouldn't win unless she did something desperate.

“It’s over.”

Her eyes flashed, in a manner that reminded him more of a cornered animal than anything else, and he had a moment to regret talking.

“What arrogance. They say arrogance turns you into a monster,” she said, and then she vanished. “Let’s see if they’re right,” came from right behind him before pain caused him to drop his blade. He heard his sword clatter to the ground distantly. He looked down to see a dark claw coming out of his chest. There was no blood, he noted absently, just pain.

“Sora!” came two cries even as his vision went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry not sorry, you already know i'm soft from the tags


	8. The Morning's Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is character injury in here, but it's not graphically described and is in fact sort of brushed over because magic. Just mentioning it in case some people need a bit of warning.

It took a minute to focus beyond the haze in his mind. Everything was black here. 

‘_She turned me into one of her monsters_,’ he thought, even as he forced himself to see again. He was still in the palace, just a few feet from where he had started. Had she flung him away? 

“Your best warrior, offered to me like a sacrifice,” Maleficent was saying. Riku looked ashen, staring directly at Sora. Kairi looked like she was going to cry, pulling Riku away from Maleficent. “Sora, was it? I’m sure he’ll be quite sorry when I turn him back,” she cackled. “Attack.”

Sora didn’t move. He had four paws and he could feel his body shifting in and out of a solid shape. Everything felt blurry, but he knew that Kairi and Riku didn’t have the magic to protect themselves if he did leap. He couldn’t hurt them. They looked terrified besides. 

“Are you deaf? My monster, attack!” He turned toward the agitated voice. Maleficent was only feet from him, his sword at her feet. He took a step toward it. There was something about it that was important. His head felt clearer just with that step. He took another.

“Sora!” Kairi called out, but she didn’t sound upset, so Sora didn’t turn.

Maleficent’s eyes widened. It was the first time in all of this that she seemed scared, and he wasn’t even coming for her at the moment. She took a step back with each he took forward now, but he didn’t need her. He needed his sword.

His paw came to rest on his sword, and it _burned_. It burned in a way he hadn’t known it could, like feeling ice burn for the first time, but he knew now what to do. He wouldn’t let go.

Dark magic fell off him in waves, combated by the protective enchantments on his sword ten years in the making. He felt his body shift back, his hands taking shape once more as he grabbed his sword properly.

Maleficent was staring at him. “How-?”

“I promised, no matter the situation, to never perform dark magic, so the fairies took my ability to do it. In exchange, it doesn’t affect me very much. Must have been a pretty strong enchantment.” He grinned at her. He had known how this was going to end ever since he had figured out that the monsters weren’t summons. It was a relief to be right. Destiny had no hold on him now. “Bad target choice.”

It was easy to put her at swordpoint. “Give up. You won’t win against me.”

“I… concede,” Maleficent said through gritted teeth. 

The next part was going to suck for both of them. “I am sorry about this,” he said, and then he sunk his sword in her side.

He had worked enchantments into his sword over ten years, knew exactly the power in it, just as he knew the power of blood. For the sort of magic he was working, he was going to need all the help he could get, and Maleficent was going to help regardless of what she wanted to do. 

“Sora,” came the horrified whisper from Riku, and he realized it probably wasn’t clear to his audience what he was doing.

“I promise I am helping,” he said, and he watched the horror flee from Riku’s face before focusing on his task.

Magic required focus and this was the most intricate bit of magic he had ever done.

Sora wasn’t a fairy. He didn't have the deft touch they were known for, the sort that let them weave thousands of threads of spells together to form a single spell stronger than its parts. 

What he did have was the knowledge he was one of the strongest magic users of his generation and the fairies had already laid the groundwork. He didn't have to figure out which spells to weave together when he could just copy the work already done.

“A single battle for a kingdom, of which you have always been a part. I bind you by your word, by your blood, Maleficent. I bind you by the magic in my veins, by the power of my sword. ” He could feel her magic looping in on itself, the way his had years ago when he had struck his deal, and he smiled. “Your monsters are gone. The throne belongs to its rightful heir.”

His work done, he lifted his blade. Then he staggered. Most of the enchantments on his sword had broken, their power repurposed to fuel his spell. Maleficent’s wound was healing rapidly, fading to a scar that would serve as a reminder of the binding on her magic. He was exhausted. His sword was pretty much the only thing keeping him upright, although he hated to think what this sort of treatment was doing to the blade. 

“It’s over,” he said again, but this time, he meant it. He smiled at Riku and Kairi, who seemed mostly concerned now that the imminent danger had passed. 

“Sora, what did you do?” Kairi asked, a wariness in her gaze as she looked at Maleficent’s unconscious body.

“She’s sleeping off the enchantment. I did the same thing when it happened to me. She’ll be alright soon enough. It was a day for me, but the fairies had more resources available to them. I wouldn’t be surprised if she slept for a week." Right, that wasn't the question. "She’ll never cast black magic again.”

He felt sort of bad for her though. She would be a below average magic user for the rest of her life, having already devoted most of her talents to the branch of magic he had shut off from her. “The curse should have broken. Her magic can’t sustain it any longer.”

Riku and Kairi both stared at him for a moment like he was a stranger, and then Riku laughed. “When did you get so smart?”

“It’s been years! And I’ve always been smart!”

Riku’s eyes were soft as he said, “Yeah, I guess you always have been.” Sora blushed. That was… nice. There had been a part of him since childhood that had always wanted Riku’s attention. To have it and be found extraordinary under it was a bit of a headrush that Sora really couldn’t deal with right when he was so exhausted. It really wasn’t fair of Riku, but then Riku had always been a bit of a bastard. 

“We should find the King, explain the situation,” Kairi said, because she had become practical at some point. Sora was sad to have missed it.

“Well, he’d either go to the throne room or Maleficent’s room first, right?” Riku reasoned, and then headed to the door once more, opening it to reveal a hallway. “So, we’ll wait go to the throne and wait for him to come to us.” Riku glanced back at the two of them, and perhaps he saw Sora’s exhaustion, but he doubled back, drawing one of Sora’s arms over his shoulder. “Come on. You should be there for this.”

They passed guards milling about in confusion. Some bowed to Riku, while others looked at the three of them in confusion.

No one tried to stop them from entering the throne room. Riku sat Sora on the throne itself while Sora tried to decide whether or not he should care. It felt vaguely treasonous to sit there, but Sora didn’t really know a lot about treason.

The King, when he came after a line of guards had entered the room, had deep age lines in his face and a stern expression that melted somewhat when he saw his son. “You’re safe.”

“And you’re alive,” Riku responded, with that polished smile that Sora never bought. 

“Stop trying to act cool, Riku,” Sora told him with a roll of his eyes even as he slumped further into the chair. If Maleficent got to sleep after their fight, he should get the same chance. He was the winner, after all. 

“Riku?” the King asked, raising an eyebrow and Sora watched Riku color.

“This is Sora,” Riku muttered.

The King looked deeply amused by that. “Oh, is it?” he asked. It sounded more like he was teasing his son, but Sora had no idea what that could be about.

“Yes,” Riku muttered again, and his face got a fraction redder.

Sora was definitely missing something.

“He's a warrior of light,” Riku added, as if that meant something right now. Or did it? Sora really didn’t know how royalty was supposed to work.

“Oh, I _see_,” the King said in the same tone as before. “_That’s_ why you always-”

“He defeated Maleficent in single combat,” Riku interrupted, and Sora was a little curious now. He figured he could probably ask later. 

The King was abruptly more serious. “Ah. And what did you promise him in return?” The King turned a shrewd gaze on him and Sora decided he didn’t like it.

“_Nothing._ I was helping my friends,” he said, with an attitude that he was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to take in front of royalty, especially when he was sitting in their throne. Riku buried his head in his hands. 

The King looked at him and Sora met his eye. “I suppose you’ve never been taught the manners of the court,” he said slowly. There was a slight tilt to his head.

“No,” Sora said shortly. Couldn't they discuss manners after he had slept?

The King smiled. “Well then, I supposed Riku has his work cut out for him.”

Riku groaned into his hands.

Sora blinked. That felt an awful lot like approval.

Kairi had slipped from their sides sometime during the conversation to begin talking lowly with a man with red hair Sora thought was probably her dad. She was awfully quiet when she wanted to be, because he hadn’t even noticed her move. He didn’t like the considering glances coming his way from everyone though.

An utterly familiar voice tempered his anxiety though. “Your name is Sora?”

Sora turned to face the speaker, ignoring the King and Riku for a moment. His memories were hazy, but he knew him.

“Everyone’s so much older now. Even you,” his father said faintly. 

“Mom’s still waiting for you,” was what he said, but it didn’t feel like it was him saying it at all. 

It’s about then that the day became too much and he collapsed against his chair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost there!


	9. Without Fear, Into The Future

When Sora wakes, he brings his father home. He pretends not to notice his mother’s tears when she sees them both at her door. 

It takes him very little time to realize that while his parents would be happy for him to stay, life on the island doesn’t suit him anymore. He hasn’t stayed in one place for long in years, let alone one so small. His mother takes his stories in with delight and wonder. His father often looks at him like Sora is the one who disappeared for years. There will be no fix for it but time.

He leaves his parents to get reacquainted.

He goes back to the castle and discovers that while he was gone, the King has summarily declared him a Knight of the Realm and then given him nothing in the way of duties, which he supposes almost makes up for the unwanted position. Roxas has returned to the castle with his two friends. Axel and Xion like Sora much more than Roxas does, and Roxas seems stunned that Sora is technically his superior. It’s really the only thing that Sora does like about the entire thing.

Kairi explains the position is because commoners don’t really get to hang around the castle as much as he does about a week later, and then tacks on that also commoners marrying nobility is very rare, but knights marrying nobility is much more common, which doesn’t feel as relevant. When he tells her so, she tells him he’s still only the second dumbest boy she knows and to stop competing for first. 

He complains about that to Riku who promptly goes red and useless until Sora smacks him with one of the pillows on his bed and then it becomes more of a pillow fight than anything. Riku’s household staff won’t speak to him until he uses his magic to mend the ripped pillows and bed hangings. He thinks that’s probably fair.

The King takes lunch with him and him alone about once a week, ostensibly to make sure he’s keeping up on his knightly duties, but he doesn’t have any, so it really is just the King telling him stories about Riku, and Sora telling some stories of his travels in return, with the King side-eyeing him every time he uses the wrong utensil until he finally starts figuring out which one is which just to get it to stop. The King actually does seem to like how well-traveled he is, says it will help him in negotiations in the future once he gets a knack for courtly manners. 

Everyone keeps mentioning how he’ll have to learn courtly manners. He thinks it really isn’t necessary when he’s a Knight with no duties. 

He’s comfortable in the castle though, in a way he hasn’t been comfortable anywhere in a long time. Destiny has no hold on him. Even if it did, he’s not scared of it anymore. His destiny is to help Riku, and that’s a given.

He’ll help Riku ascend to the throne one day, because he’s already gotten the thing back for him. In the meantime, all he seems to have to do is stay by him.

Sora is utterly confused by it all until one day it hits him.

He’s looking at Riku laugh and thinks, ‘_He's so beautiful_,’ and abruptly all the little comments start making a lot more sense. 

Oh.

They think he’s going to marry Riku.

Well.

He certainly wouldn’t mind.

And then, because Sora is only good at planning when it comes to a fight, he grabs Riku by the shoulder, which startles Riku out of his laugh, turns him slightly and kisses him dead on the lips.

Riku responds like he’s been waiting years for this exact moment, and maybe he has.

Maybe Sora has too.

Riku is warm and he places a hand on Sora’s cheek tenderly as they kiss, like Sora will vanish with a touch. His eyes are happy when they pull apart.

Sora guesses he might have to ask Kairi about those ‘courtly manners’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking about showing more of Riku's and Sora's romantic relationship in story, but while I was writing, the story felt more fairy tale-esque, so they got together at the end.
> 
> Riku's destiny was that his heart would remain tied to the islands, and he would find the strength he needed to ascend to the throne there. Since he was still nursing a baby crush on Sora, that boy knew exactly what was going on and headed to the islands directly once he escaped the castle. After that, he had no plan on how to romance Sora.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the story. Seeing kudos or comments makes my day, so please leave one if you liked it!


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